Just War Theory and How It Relates to Desert Storm and the War in Research Paper

Just War Theory and How It Relates to Desert Storm and the War in Afghanistan - Research Paper Example Operations Desert Storm or Gulf war was conducted during 17 January 1991 – 28 February 1991, between an UN-authorized coalition forces from 34 nations against Iraq. The UN coalition forces were headed by America and the reason for this war was Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. George Bush Sr. was the American president at that time. The current Afghan war was started in 2001, immediately after the 9/11 incident. This war is often labeled as war on terror and the reason cited for this war was that terrorists use Afghan soil for conducting violent activities across the world. Taliban was accused for keeping nexus with other terrorist organizations in the world. In other words, America suspects that Taliban, Al Qaida and other terrorist organizations are working against America from Afghan soil. Politicians and neutral observers have different opinions about operation desert storm and Afghan war. Some people support these wars whereas others oppose it. This paper analyses operati on desert storm and Afghan war in terms of just war theory. Historically, the just war tradition may be said to commonly evolve between two culturally similar enemies. That is, when an array of values are shared between two warring peoples, we often find that they implicitly or explicitly agree upon limits to their warfare. But when enemies differ greatly because of different religious beliefs, race, or language, and as such they see each other as â€Å"less than human†, war conventions are rarely applied (Mosely). Gulf War took place between two culturally similar countries. Muslims or Arabs in Kuwait and Iraq have same religious beliefs and customs. There are plenty of similarities between Iraqis and Kuwaitis. Under such circumstances, one can definitely conclude that just war theory is definitely applicable to Gulf war. On the other hand, war in Afghanistan is taking place between Christian dominated America and Muslim dominated Taliban or Afghan people. Even though Muslim s and Christians do have a common father in Abraham (Jewism, Islam and Christianity are three Abrahamic religions), their beliefs and customs are entirely different. Christians believe that Jesus the saviour of human kind whereas Muslims believe that Prophet Mohammad is the saviour of humans. In short, Afghan war cannot be included under the just war theory since two culturally different parties are fighting each other here. â€Å"It has been the concern of the majority of just war theorists that the lack of rules to war or any asymmetrical morality between belligerents should be denounced, and that the rules of war should apply to all equally† (Mosely). Saddam’s ambitions to expand Iraq’s territory were resulted in Gulf War. Iraq failed to accept Kuwait as a sovereign state and they tried to conquer it using muscle power. Saddam argued that Kuwait is part of Iraq historically and it should be added to Iraq’s territories. On the other hand, international community was not convinced by these arguments and the result was Gulf War. On the other hand, 9/11 caused war on terror and Afghan war. America started two war fronts; one in Afghanistan and another in Iraq immediately after the 9/11 incident. America believed that Saddam has joined hands with Al Quaid leader Osama to conduct terrorist activities in America. In their opinion, the Taliban dominated Afghanistan was the origin of all

Remembering, feeling, and thinking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Remembering, feeling, and thinking - Essay Example The interrelationship among the psychological concepts of motivation, emotion and behavior is important to understand. Human behaviors are always directed towards certain motives and those motives are further propelled by emotion. Human emotion stands in between motivation and the behavior. Emotion, first of all, stems from motivation. A desire to do or achieve something comes from emotion and the success or failure of the same also results in the arousal of emotions – joy or happiness if one is successful and sadness or distress if one fails. The emotions thus aroused make the person show appropriate behaviors that project those emotions. For example, a sad person stops eating and a happy person may start dancing and singing! Sometimes emotion also effects motivation. Often times our goals and ambitions stem from the kind of emotional state one is in. A joyful person might be motivated to spend time in recreational activities while a frustrated person might choose to seclude himself inside closed doors. Let us look at the behavior of John, a high school student who wants to pursue a degree in engineering. His ambition to become an engineer is a motivation and his desperate search for a suitable institution that can provide a degree in engineering is the behavior propelled by his motivation for achievement. This motivation, on the other hand does not appear without emotion. John feels extremely happy when he repairs certain machines like his neighbor’s computer or his old radio and when he makes certain buildings out of plastics or cartoons. He is always driven towards outdoor activities and is obsessed with other clerical jobs and other activities that require dexterous capabilities and mathematical intelligence. Thus such behaviors are always motivated and those motivations are always liked to emotions. II. Theories of Emotion There are four major theories proposed to explain emotions. The first one is The James-Lange Theory. According to this t heory an event causes a physiological arousal and it is only when you interpret the physical response, you experience the resulting emotion (Maddie, 2011). For example a girl walking in dark hears certain sounds of an animal, and her heartbeat rises. She interprets this reaction to be fear. The Cannon-Bard theory claims that â€Å"we feel emotions and experience physiological reactions such as sweating, trembling and muscle tension simultaneously† (Kendra, 2011). For example I see a snake; I feel afraid and begin to tremble. The Schacter-Singer Theory says that two factors are essential for the experience of emotions, high physiological arousal and an emotional interpretation of that arousal. According to the theory, an event causes physiological  arousal  first. You must then identify a reason for this  arousal  and then you are able to experience and label the emotion (Schachter-Singer Theory, 2011). The Lazarus theory builds on the Schechter-Singer theory and propo ses that when an event occurs, a cognitive appraisal is made and based on the results of that appraisal, an emotion and physiological response follow. The most valid theory for me is the Cannon-Bard theory because it acknowledges the fact that the experience of emotion and physiological reaction occurs simultaneously. Moreover it does not assert the need for ‘interpretation’ of emotion, for, emotion is instinctual and a person engrossed in the emotion hardly has a change to ‘interpret’ the same, yet, he feels the emotion. The least valid theory for me is the James-Langue theory. It is not necessary that the physiological arousal must occur first and it is also not necessary to ‘interpret’ the physical reaction for a person to know what emotion he is feeling. Emotions often occur in a subtle form where we notice our physical reaction such as rejoice way after we have felt the emotion. III. Thinking, Intelligence and Creativity Thinking is the pr ocess of making use of mind or the brain to observe, interpret and make sense of the world around us.

Death Penalty Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 4

Death Penalty - Research Paper Example Thereby, death penalty ought to remain legal in the United States owing to the deterrence impact it has on the criminals, the justice it extends to the victims of heinous crimes and their families and the way it prevents the hardcore and repeat offenders from committing more crimes. Death penalty is highly useful because it deters the criminals from committing serious and violent crimes (Banner 219). Any thriving and democratic society needs to maintain the rule of law. Peace and the rule of law are necessary to assure the happiness and well being of the common citizens. It is a practical fact that every society does tend to have individuals and groups who happen to have a violent disposition and a criminal bent of mind. Such people are mostly more prone to committing heinous and rare crimes like murder, rape and acts of aggression. If the courts of law extend soft sentences to such criminals, it is possible that they may commit more serious and rare crimes (Banner 219). This is because a soft sentence tends to give an idea to such criminals that they can commit serious crimes like murder and still can get away with it. In the absence of death penalty, there will be practically nothing that will deter or scare these criminals away from committing violent crimes . The logic is that â€Å"by executing convicted murderers we will deter would-be murderers from killing innocent people (Bedau & Cassell 58) Hence, one important function of the law is to extend such penalties that deter the other criminals from engaging in violent crimes. Thereby, if a murderer is given a death sentence, it sends a message to the other criminals in the society that engaging in violent crimes may cost them their life. Hence, death penalty is a legal provision that has a strong deterrence potential. It stands to be the most appropriate warning to the criminal elements in any society. It would not be wrong to assume that many criminals fall short of

Biochemistry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Biochemistry - Essay Example The conversion of glucose to glycogen, a process of energy storage, is achieved by a number of enzymes, the absence or deficiency of which leads to the GSDs resulting in inborn errors of glycogen metabolism. These disorders arise due to deficiency of enzymes involved in the glyconeogenesis or due to abnormal functioning of the glycogen breakdown enzymes. GSDs are categorized based on the type enzyme deficiency and the tissue affected. The systems involved in glycogen synthesis disorders are the liver and muscle, which are the primary sites of energy storage. GSD Type IV, also known as amylopectinosis, is usually fatal and leads to death by age 4. Some of the clinical symptoms include hepatomegaly, failure to thrive, splenomegaly, cirrhosis and lumbar lordosis. Type IV disorder arises due to deficiency of the glycogen branching enzyme amylo-1,4-1,6 transglucosidase, which leads to the formation of abnormally structured glycogen, having amylase molecules with low solubility, leading to glycogen precipitation in the liver, the heart and other tissues. The condition ultimately leads to early death (Ozen, 2541-53). Type I diabetic patients who are erroneously prescribed too high of an insulin dose in their insulin regimen can present liver disease symptoms similar to those presented in glycogen storage diseases. Explain the biochemical basis for this finding. One of the important functions of insulin is glycogen syn... Insulin regulates the amount of glucose absorbed or released from the cell. The glucose absorbed from the blood is stored in the form of glycogen in the liver. One of the important functions of insulin is glycogen synthesis, brought about by activating the enzyme hexokinase. This in turn, phosphorylates glucose, thus, trapping it within the cell, in the form of energy. Insulin also inhibit the activity of glucose-6-phosphatase and activates phosphofructokinase and glycogen synthase, thus helping the hepatocytes to havest excess glucose in the form of glycogen. But, in the absense of insulin, as in case of type 1 diabetes, glucose circulation in the blood increases and the cells fail to harvest it for energy. In the absence of energy the cells activate the enzymes involved in the breakdown of glycogen (glycogenolysis).Under the conditions of cell starvation triggered by lack of insulin, glucagon, a counter regulatory hormone,is activated, which, again stimulates the process of glycogenolysis in hepatocytes, thus releasing energy. When insulin is administered from an outside source, in excess, (eg: injections), insulin activates the formation of glycogen from glucose and inhibition glycogenolysis. Therefore, in presence of excess insulin, there is a surplus production of glycogen, similar to that of glycogen storage disorders. Also, there is inhibition of glucose-6-phosphate, similar to deficiency of the same as in glycogen storage disorders (Bowen). 3.Helicobacter pylori is a bacterium that colonizes the upper gastrointestinal tract in humans and is the causative agent of chronic gastritis, ulcers, and possibly gastric cancer. Knowledge of the intermediary metabolism of this organism would be helpful in developing effective drug

Crm Banking Sector Essay Example for Free

Crm Banking Sector Essay A study of customer perception of CRM initiatives in the Indian Banking Sector Vanisha Oogarah-Hanuman Lecturer Faculty of Law and Management University of Mauritius Sharmila Pudaruth Lecturer Faculty of Law and Management University of Mauritius Vinod Kumar Research Scholar Department of Management Studies School of Management Pondicherry University Victor Anandkumar Reader Department of Management Studies School of Management Pondicherry University ABSTRACT Purpose: To investigate the front-end effectiveness of CRM strategies in the banking sector in India by studying the customer perception of CRM initiatives. This is an empirical research which is descriptive in nature and relied mainly on primary data collected through a structured questionnaire to study the perception of Indian customers. Findings: Banks operating in India have failed to impress their customers on their CRM efforts. Various CRM initiates and dimensions measured in this study report unfavorable response. This under-performance has occurred in spite of technological developments and new processes in place Practical implications: The findings will have useful implications for Banks operating in India in order to think in line with the customers’ response. The study emphasizes the importance of retaining profitable customers for a lifetime and the growing importance of CRM in order to better satisfy customers in the Indian Banking Industry. Originality/value: Crucial aspects pertaining to CRM in the Indian banking sector had been under-researched and the aim of the present study is to have a broadened investigation of the CRM initiatives adopted by Indian banks. The study provides a discussion on the concept of CRM in the Indian banking sector and proposes recommendations to assist the banking sector on how to nurture profitable, long-term relationships with the customers Volume:01, Number:04, August-2011 www. theinternationaljournal. org Page 1 1. Introduction In today’s banking environment, it is becoming difficult to build and maintain strong and lasting relationships with customers. In fact, the challenges of building strong customer relationships have become even greater for banks with the emergence of e-business, diffusion of innovations and agile new competitors in the banking sector. The introduction of Customer Relationship Management has provided banks with a driving philosophy, a reoriented information system and a communication tool that helps to create invaluable and knowledge based relationships. Therefore, banks are developing a continuing long-term business relationship with customers and they are shifting their focus from market share to mind share of customers. The literature review has focused on the importance of CRM in the banking sector and the importance of maintaining profitable relationships with banking customers, which in turn leads to profitability through customer loyalty. Close relationship with customers will require a strong coordination between IT and marketing departments to provide a long-term retention of selected customers. Accordingly, this paper will aim to investigate important attributes which customers value as far as customer relationships in the Indian banking sector is concerned. No doubt, considerable literature on CRM is available worldwide but there is limited research throwing light over the importance of CRM in the Indian banking sector. Therefore, the paper reviews pertinent literature on CRM in the banking sector. Then, the methodology employed to collect and analyse data is outlined. Then the findings are discussed, implications are described and the paper further makes strategic recommendations towards enhancing customer relationships in the Indian banking sector. Directions for future research are also proposed in the arena of customer relationship management and banking sector. 2. The Indian Banking Sector and CRM The economic reforms initiated by the Government of India roughly about a decade ago have changed the landscape of several sectors of the Indian economy [1]. The Indian banking sector is no exception. The economic reforms have also generated new and powerful customers (huge Indian middle class) and new mix of players (public sector units, private banks, and foreign banks). The emerging competition has generated new expectations from the existing and the new customers. The new rules of competition require recognition of the importance of consumers and the necessity to address the needs through innovative products supported by new technology. Perceptions and expectations of the customers have undergone a sea change, with the innovative and modern banking services offered to the customers. This necessitates banks to include a customer-oriented approach whereby they build, maintain and manage longstanding relationships with their profitable customers in order to gain sustainable competitive edge. 3. Conceptual background Over the past two decades, the literature has argued that businesses across all sectors will have to change their approach to marketing, which should now be carried out through relationships, networks, and interactions [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. Such a marketing approach is very Volume:01, Number:04, August-2011 www. theinternationaljournal. rg Page 2 different from the more traditional one based on transactions affecting the Four Ps (product, price, place and promotion). 3. 1. CRM in the Banking sector Customer relationship management (CRM) has been as important to the banking industry at the start of the 21st century as it has been to any other industry. Many banks have used CRM tools to acquire more customers and to improve relationships with them. A key aspect in banks embracing technological platforms and delivery systems is the impact this will have on bank-customer relationships. Therefore, in order to achieve banking excellence, meeting customer needs and offering innovative products is not sufficient in itself. The balance between relatively high costs of relationships with customers and the need to maintain profit growth needs to be finely tuned, if marketing is not to revert back to a transactional paradigm [8]. Likewise, increased customer expectations have created a competitive climate whereby the quality of the relationship between the customer and the institution has taken a greater significance [9, 10]. The development of effective customer relationships is widely advocated as a key element of marketing strategies in the service sector (Ennew, 1996). Therefore a binding and long-term customer relationship seems to be necessary for many banks to react to the changed conditions and to guarantee the continuity. For many customers, a strong banking relationship is as vital as any other business relationship they maintain. This gives CRM-driven banks an advantage in that customers want the benefits of a solid relationship. Common benefits for customers of banks using CRM include wider access with branch locations, Internet and ATMs; access to service and support; discount credit rates and enhanced savings; and other customization opportunities. Attracting new customers should be viewed only as an intermediate step in the marketing process. Developing close relationships with these customers and turning them into loyal ones are equal aspects of marketing. Thus relationship marketing ought to be perceived as attracting, maintaining, and in multi service organizations, enhancing customer relationships [12, 13, 14, 15]. Another important facet of CRM is customer selectivity. As several research studies have shown not all customers are equally profitable for an individual company [16]. 3. 2. Role of Service Providers in the Banking Sector Although CRM has become widely recognized as an important business approach, there is no universally accepted definition of CRM. Swift defined CRM as an ‘enterprise approach to understanding and influencing customer behaviour through meaningful communications in order to improve customer acquisition, customer retention, customer loyalty, and customer profitability’ [17]. Kincaid viewed CRM as ‘the strategic use of information, processes, technology, and people to manage the customer’s relationship with your company (Marketing, Sales, Services, and Support) across the whole customer life cycle’ [18]. Parvatiyar and Sheth defined CRM as ‘a comprehensive strategy and process of acquiring, retaining, and partnering with selective customers to create superior value for the company and the customer [19]. 3. 3. Customer Loyalty, Customer Retention and Customer Relationships Customer satisfaction and loyalty are some key elements of business success and profitability. The more satisfied the customer, the more loyal the customer and the more Volume:01, Number:04, August-2011 www. theinternationaljournal. org Page 3 durable the relationship. And the longer this lasts, the more profit the company stands to make and the higher the market share. Getting existing customers to provide referrals should be one of the effective ways to add new business [20]. A referral from a customer can often open the gates and allow a salesperson access to previously unreachable prospects. Huntley found that when the quality of relationship is high, customers are more willing to recommend the sellers offerings to colleagues and they purchase more from the seller [21]. Maintaining high-quality relationships with customers appears to increase their willingness to provide referrals [22]. Customer satisfaction and loyalty are highly correlated [23], but they form two distinct constructs [24]. Customer satisfaction with a bank relationship is a good basis for loyalty [25, 26], although it does not guarantee it, because even satisfied customers switch banks [27]. One important reason for switching is pricing [28, 29]. Hence, banks have launched customer loyalty programmes that provide economic incentives. Although the effectiveness of loyalty programmes has been questioned [30, 31, 32], research has shown that they have a significant, positive impact on customer retention and share of customer purchases [33, 34]. In a similar vein, Reinartz and Kumar suggest that customers can be grouped according to share-of-wallet and profitable lifetime duration, and that each customer group should be targeted with a specific strategy [35]. By adopting such a customer focused strategy, organisations can maximise the lifetime value of each customer by anticipating needs and offering timely solutions [36]. Likewise, according to Hartfeil, ‘Products are not profitable; customers are, and we analysed our customer base, segment by segment, we found that each required a different strategy to maximize its profitability to the bank [37]. For instance, every customer (both business and personal) is assigned to a banker at National Australia Bank Ltd whereby bankers are required to actively manage their portfolios according to volume of business, interest margin spread, fee income, profitability, customer retention, and the acquisition of new customers [38]. While ample literature is available on generic CRM today, hardly any information is forthcoming on the gains from CRM initiatives in the Indian banking sector. There is scarce literature on how the customers respond to the CRM measures adopted by the banks. This research has attempted to study the customer perceptions pertaining to the CRM initiatives adopted by the banks in India. Thus it helps to investigate the front-end effectives of CRM strategies in the banking sector. 4. Research Methodology This is a descriptive study using primary data collected through an experience survey. The data collection instrument used was a 3-part structured questionnaire using a 5-point Likert Scale. Part-1 was pertaining to the relationship building aspect of CRM and it had 19 questions which were framed using the relevant variables identified from literature review. Part-2 focused specifically on the interaction with the customer service representatives. Part-3 was concerned with customer perceptions on complaint handling and his/her behavioural intentions. Necessary demographic details were also collected to serve as categorizing variables. Prior to data collection, a pilot test was conducted to ensure comprehensiveness, clarity and reliability of the questionnaire. The pretesting of the questionnaire was done among 10 customers randomly, resulting in some minor modifications of the wordings of some survey Volume:01, Number:04, August-2011 www. theinternationaljournal. rg Page 4 items. The method used to administer the questionnaire was through a personal interview so as to obtain more accurate, reliable and valid information and to make the respondents at ease by maintaining a social rapport with them. The target population to be sampled was the individual customers of the Indian banking sector. Owing to the need for a relatively large sample size while at the same time keeping the research costs down, the sample size of this study amounted to 150 customers and the quota sampling technique was adopted based on the net profit and market share figure as shown in Table-1 below.

According to mankiw and taylor

According to mankiw and taylor a) According to Mankiw and Taylor (2006), unemployment means that inability to obtain a job when one is willing and able to work. Even though there are several different ways to measure unemployment, this can be normally measured in two ways: the claimant count and the Labour Force Survey (LFS). Grant (2000) states that the claimant count is the traditional measure of unemployment in the UK. The number of people between the ages of 18 and 60 claiming unemployment benefit payments such as job seekers allowance from the government is counted as the claimant count. Therefore, it is relatively cheap and easy to gather data. However, many economists believe that there are some significant problems with the claimant count method because of the accuracy of this measure. Powell (2005:p.290) tells us, the claimant count overstates true unemployment because many claimants are either not genuinely looking for work or not genuinely unemployed because they already have undeclared jobs in the informal economy. In other words, some people who are working in the black economy and who are not looking for work are included in the claimant count. However, in other ways, it understates true unemployment. The rationale behind this is that the claimant count does not include unemployed people who are aged under 18 or over 60 or who do not claim unemployment benefits. Furthermore, some unemployed workers approaching retirement are also removed from the register. The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is now recognised as the second measure of unemployment. According to Grant (2000), the LFS is also known as the ILO (International Labour Organisation) measure because it uses the ILOs definition of unemployment. Contrary to the claimant count, all people who are actively looking for a job in the last 4 weeks are counted as unemployed workers whether they are claiming benefits or not. Both the claimant count and the Labour Force Survey (LFS) have its own advantages and disadvantages. However, both measures might understate the actual unemployment. According to Powell (2005), the reason is that they do not count discouraged workers who have given up finding jobs and people who are classified as economically inactive. Unemployment can be defined and categorised in a number of types and ways. Therefore, in this paper, it will be classified in accordance with its causes. First of all, there is equilibrium unemployment. Grant (2000) tells us that equilibrium unemployment exists when the aggregate demand for labour is equal to the aggregate supply of labour and vacancies match with the number unemployed. However, although there is equilibrium at wage rate, people might still unemployed because the vacancies are uninformed to them or they are unacceptable or unwilling to take up the vacancies. The graph below shows equilibrium unemployment. (adopted from Powell: p.293) This equilibrium unemployment is measured by the distance between Z and X or E1 EFE. In addition, ASLN curve shows all the workers who are willing to work at different real wage rates. According to Grant (2000), there are different types of equilibrium unemployment such as frictional, search, casual, seasonal, structural, technological and residual unemployment. Frictional unemployment occurs where people are between jobs. Because of immobilities in the labour force, a delay or time-lag is created while unemployed workers move from one job to another. Therefore, it explains why people are able to remain unemployed despite there are job vacancies available. Powell (2005) states geographical and occupational immobilities of labour explain why unemployed workers are prevented from filling job vacancies immediately. For example, the cost of moving and difficulties of obtaining housing are among the causes of geographical immobility. In addition, occupational immobility is caused by the need for training and the effects of restrictive practice and discrimination in labour markets. Grant (2000) says that search unemployment is a form of frictional unemployment. The newly unemployed workers who have just lost their jobs or who have voluntarily left their jobs might take a gap before getting a new job. The reason is that they need to search labour markets to see better-paid or higher status employment is available. Therefore, search unemployment takes place when unemployed workers do not accept the first job offer to search for better-paid or higher status employment. Some kinds of unemployment occur when certain groups of workers are out of work between periods of employment. According to Grant (2000), casual unemployment, one of the specific cases of frictional unemployment, takes place because of that reason above. In other words, casual unemployment occurs when workers are unemployed on a short-term basis in trades. For example, workers in the tourism sector, construction industry and agricultural work. Powell (20005) states that seasonal unemployment is casual unemployment and it occurs in some industries suffering seasonal fluctuations in demand. Industries such as farming, tourism and building experience such seasonal patterns of demand. Therefore, fruit pickers and deck chair attendants can be an example of seasonal unemployment. Besides, there is structural unemployment. People can be unemployed because of the changing structure of the economy. According to Powell (2005), structural unemployment arises from the structural decline of industries. For instance, if there are more efficient competitors in the market or there is the decline of demand, the workers in those industries will be becoming unemployed e.g. coal-miners in the UK. Further, he says that structural unemployment occurs when industries change their skill requirements. For example, industries ask new skill requirements when they change or introduce ways of producing their products. Structural unemployment has some different forms like frictional unemployment. Technological, regional and international unemployment are forms of structural unemployment. Technological unemployment is a form of structural unemployment. Grant (2000) say that technological unemployment results from the introduction of new technology such as labour-saving technology. Therefore, there will be automation as a result of introducing new technology. Through automation, industries can reduce their demand for labour even though their output is expanding. Accordingly, it can be defined technological unemployment results from those industries using labour-saving technology such as the use of telephone banking and plastic cards. Like technological unemployment, regional unemployment is also connected with structural unemployment. Grant (2000) states that regional unemployment takes place when the declining industry is linked to a specific area. In other words, it occurs because of the decline or closure of a major employer in a particular area. For example, in the UK, the decline of textile and shipbuilding created a pool of unemployed workers in some regions. According to Grant (2000), international unemployment is also a form of structural unemployment. It occurs when the demand for domestically produced goods and services falls and, consequently, there are increased workers losing their jobs. For example, if there are more efficient competitors abroad, consumers might choose goods and services that are produced out of the country. Therefore, the demand for domestically produced goods and services might decrease then firms will reduce their employees or will be closed. Finally, there is residual unemployment as a type of equilibrium unemployment. Mankiw and Taylor (2006) state that residual unemployment takes place when people are unwilling to work or are not able to work due to disability. Basically, people who are unemployable on a permanent basis cannot meet the demands of modern production methods and the disciplines. Therefore, it can take place in all societies. Disequilibrium unemployment is another kind of unemployment except for equilibrium unemployment. According to Grant (2000), there are two conditions for occurring disequilibrium unemployment. One is that the aggregate supply of labour must exceed the aggregate demand for labour. Another condition is that wages are sticky downwards (wage stickiness). The graph below shows that there is disequilibrium unemployment of LLZ at the wage rate W. (adopted from Grant: p.536) According to Powell (2005), there are two main types of disequilibrium unemployment: classical or real-wage unemployment and cyclical, Keynesian or demand-deficient unemployment. Classical unemployment or real-wage unemployment takes place when wages are fixed at a higher real rate rather than real-wage rate and labour market, caused by trade unions or a government-set minimum wage, prevents the real wage rate falling below these higher wages. The graph below shows classical or real-wage unemployment. (adopted from Powell: p.297) If labour markets are sufficiently competitive, the market mechanism begins to reduce disequilibrium wage rate to eliminate the excess supply of labour in the market. However, labour market rigidity or wage stickiness prevents the real wage rate falling below W1. Because of labour market rigidity or wage stickiness, there is the excess supply of labour in the markets and, consequently, classical or real-wage unemployment persists. According to Powell (2005), demand-deficient unemployment (also known as cyclical unemployment or Keynesian unemployment) stems from leakages or withdrawals from the circular flow of income and from the negative multipliers that are then unleashed. In other words, an under-full employment equilibrium occurs because of a continuing lack of effective aggregate demand. For example, the flow of income might fall by the size of the net leakage multiplied by the national income multiplier when planned leakage exceeds planned injections. Powell (2005) states that demand-deficient unemployment illustrates the paradox of thrift. It comes from the fact that saving becomes a vice at the aggregate level if people save and others are prohibited from spending the saving. For instance, demand for goods and service reduces when the market is in the recession of business cycle below the trend. Therefore, firms do not need to produce many goods to satisfy decreased consumers demand so that less labour is needed. The lower the demand for goods and services, the less the demand for labour is needed. Consequently, firms will reduce the number of their employees then the unemployment will increase. Powell (2005: p.299) tells us, Inflation is best defined as a persistent or continuous rise in the price level, or as a continuing fall in the value of money. Like unemployment, there are some methods to measure inflation: the retail price index (RPI), the PRIX, the RPIY and the consumer price index (CPI). The retail price index (RPI) shows changes in the price of average persons shopping basket. According to Powell (2005), the RPI was used by UK government to measure changes in the rate of inflation until 2003 and it measures the headline rate of inflation. The RPI is based on a monthly survey of the prices of consumer goods and services and it is therefore, calculated through a weighted average of each months price changes. However, it is impossible to measure all prices. Therefore, the RPI contains 650 items as a representative sample and those items are regularly changed to reflect new products and changing tastes. For instance, subscriptions for Internet service and digital cameras newly entered index compilation. The RPIX is the retail price index excluding mortgage interest payments. Powell (2005) says that the RPIX measures the underlying rate of inflation. In other words, it is measured by the formula: the headline rate minus mortgage interest rates. The RPIX only includes the council tax while the RPI includes the council tax and the mortgage interest rate. Furthermore, it is used to measure the cost of living of a representative family in the economy as the CPI does. Marcouse et al (2003) tell us that the RPIY is similar to the RPIX. However, it excludes indirect taxes as well as the mortgage interest. The consumer price index covers the prices of consumer goods. It attempts to measure the cost of living of a representative family in the economy like the RPIX. The CPI includes investment goods and goods purchased by the government while the mortgage interest rate and the council tax are excluded from the CPI. According to Powell (2005), in the UK, the CPI will replace the RPI and the RPIX completely because it is based on the method of measuring the price level used in the European Union. Inflation can be defined and classified in accordance with its causes. There are two different types of inflation: demand-pull and cost-push inflation and those two types of inflation are classified by Keynesians. Demand-pull inflation is caused by too much demand in the economy. In other words, demand-pull inflation occurs when there is too much money chasing too few products. For example, oil and steel. According to Grant (2000), an increase in aggregate demand must rise real output and the price level once the countrys resources are fully employed. The graph below uses a short-run AD/AS diagram to show demand-pull inflation. (adopted from Powell: p.306) When the government rises aggregate demand from AD1 to AD2, the government can eliminate demand-deficient unemployment and create full employment although real output and the price level increase. However, once full employment arrives, a further increase of aggregate demand may cause an upward movement of aggregate demand, shifting the aggregate demand curve from AD2 to AD3 and then excess demand (the vertical distance between W and Z) is created. Although there are several different conditions causing demand-pull inflation, wartime might be an appropriate example. The graph above also illustrates an inflationary gap which is the vertical distance between W and Z. Powell (2005: p.306) tells us, An inflationary gap measures the extent to which excess demand exists at the full employment level of real income or output. Similarly, a deflationary gap measures the extent to which there is deficient aggregate demand. Cost-push inflation occurs as a result of a rise in the costs of production which are not caused by excess demand. Therefore, there is the difference between demand inflation and cost-push inflation. According to Powell (2005), cost theories of inflation are based on the cause of inflation in structural and institutional conditions on the supply side of the economy. Cost-push inflation is illustrated in the graph below. (adopted from Powell: p.307) An increase in cost will cause a shift in the aggregate supply curve to the left (SRAS1 to SRAS2). The effect of this is to raise prices from P1 to P2 and then the quantity demanded will move from Y to Y1. Therefore, the macroeconomic equilibrium will be moved from X to Z and, consequently, the new macroeconomic equilibrium will be at point Z. According to Grant (2000), there are several causes in which costs might increase independently of the state of demand. First of all, wage push inflation can lead to cost-push inflation where trade unions force wages levels to increase independently of the demand for labour. Another example is a rise in prices of imported materials. Finally, a rise in indirect taxation also gives an example which leads to cost-push inflation. b) (data for this graph adopted from the handout) The graph above shows changes in retail price change and unemployment between 1986 and 1995. It can be clearly seen that there is the relationship between the retail price % change and unemployment rate and those are inversely related. The retail price % change increased from 3.4% to 9.5% between 1986 and 1990. During that period, the unemployment rate decreased from 11.2% to 5.9%. However, once, the retail price % change reduced from 9.5% to 5.9% in 1991, the changes in unemployment started to raise from 5.9% to 8.1%. Between 1991 and 1993, there was a decrease in retail price change from 5.9% to 1.6% while the unemployment rate increased from 8.1% to 10.4%. However, by 1994, the changes in unemployment reduced again (from 10.4% to 9.3%) when the changes in retail price change increased from 1.6% to 2.5%. In 1995, the unemployment rate still decreased while the retail price % change increased. The changes in retail price change was at the peak in 1990 when the unemployment rate recorded the lowest rate (5.9%) in the same year. In 1993, the changes in retail price change and unemployment are different. The retail price % change reached the lowest rate (1.6%) when the unemployment rate recorded the highest rate (10.4%) in 1993. Overall, there was a decrease in unemployment rate when the changes in retail price change increased. By contrast, the unemployment rate raised when the changes in retail price change decreased.In other words, the unemployment rate decreased at first, then increased and decreased again. However, contrary to the changes in unemployment, the changes in retail price change increased at first, then decreased and increased again during the same period. Therefore, the relationship between changes in retail price change and unemployment can be analysed that a stable relationship exists between them and they are inversely related. The graph below shows an inverse relationship between retail price % change and unemployment directly. (data for this graph adopted from the handout) Moreover, we can notice unemployment is low when retail price % change is high and unemployment is high when retail price % change is low from the two graphs above. c) There are some facts which can be expected from the data and question b. First of all, there is an inverse relationship between inflation rate and unemployment. Therefore, we can expect when inflation rate is low, unemployment is high and, conversely, unemployment is low when inflation rate is high. From this negative association, we are able to expect that unemployment might be changed as a result of changes of inflation rate. It means that there are changes of inflation rate first then the changes of unemployment will happen. Apart from these two facts, the data show the changes regularly repeated. Accordingly, we can expect that inflation can be affected by external factors and governments might be able to influence changes in the rate of inflation and unemployment through choosing their preferred combination of unemployment and inflation. First of all, the relationship between inflation rate and unemployment can be explained by Philips curve analysis. According to Powell (2005), A. W. Philips argued that the inverse relationship existed between unemployment and the rate of price inflation. This relationship is illustrated by the Philips Curve as shown in the graph below. (adopted from Powell: p.308) The Philips Curve above shows a negative association between unemployment rate and inflation rate. When there is high inflation, unemployment is low and when there is low inflation, unemployment is high. Moreover, Powell (2005) states that the Philips Curve suggests how the conflict between full employment and control of inflation can be dealt with. The reason is that the combinations of inflation and unemployment can be arisen in the short-run as shifts in the aggregate demand curve move the economy along the short-run aggregate supply curve. In the short-run, a rise in aggregate demand for goods and services leads to a greater output of goods and services and a higher price level. In other words, a lower rate of unemployment will be happened by expanding aggregate demand. Therefore, governments and policy makers not only move the economy from point A to point B but also reduce unemployment rate from U1 to U2. However, a higher rate of inflation is also happened (P1?P2). Accordingly, it means there is a trade off between falling unemployment and increasing inflation. Points such as A and B on the Philips Curve offers policy makers a menu of possible outcomes and, consequently, gover nments might decide an acceptable combination between unemployment and inflation. According to Mankiw and Taylor (2006), Friedman and Phelps introduced expected inflation to help understand the short-run and long-run relationship between inflation and unemployment. Expected inflation measures how much people expect the overall price level to change. The graph below introduces the role of expectations into the inflationary process. (adopted from Powell: p.311) In the graph above, we assume unemployment is initially at its natural rate (UN) and price inflation equals wage inflation. When a government pursues an expansionary monetary policy to expand demand, the economy moves along Philips curve SRPC1 (from point A to Point B). At point B, unemployment is below its natural rate, but inflation rises to P1. Consequently, in the short-run, inflation rises above expected inflation and workers may suffer money illusion, the false belief that an increase in money wage is also a real wage increase. However, a point such as B is unsustainable because people get used to this higher inflation rate and they increase their expectations of inflation. Firms and workers, therefore, consider higher inflation when setting wages and prices in order to restore the real wage. The short-run Philips curve, accordingly, shifts to the right (from SRPC1 to SRPC2). Consequently, the economy ends up at point C where there is higher inflation than at point A, but with the same level of unemployment. Powell (2005) says that once the economy reaches at point C, any further expansion of aggregate demand moves the economy to point D and inflation rate of P2. The reason is that this situation will continue if there are higher expected rates of future inflation. Therefore, it gives explanations why unemployment rate regularly decreases then increases and why inflation rate is always positive. Furthermore, it also explains why the changes in inflation rate and unemployment are repeated. Apart from the Philips curve, Keynesian theories of inflation are also helpful to understand the facts which are found. The graph below shows an upward-sloping SRAS curve. (adopted from Powell: p.279) According to Powell (2005), Keynesians now believe the SRAS curve slopes upward and upward-sloping SRAS curve shows that an increase in the price level is necessary to persuade companies to supply more output. It, therefore, explains why unemployment is changed as a result of changes in the rate of inflation. A rise in the price level (from P1 to P2) reduces the real wage rate. Therefore, firms can employ more labour and supply more output and, consequently, unemployment will decrease to increase supply. Moreover, governments can inflate the price level and approach full employment through an increase in aggregate demand. The graph shows an increase in aggregate demand is reflationary or inflationary. It means that expansionary fiscal or monetary policy reflates real output and create jobs, and inflates the price level. Therefore, a rise in aggregate demand moves the economy towards full capacity and, consequently, the economy will be able to approach full employment and full capacity. However, once the economy reaches at full employment, it means there is no spare capacity. Therefore, any further increase in aggregate demand might cause prices to rise and the eventual creation of excess demand will lead to demand-pull inflation. d) Apart from unemployment and the exchange rate, there are more factors influencing changes in the rate of inflation. For example, a monetary and fiscal policy and a prices and incomes policy are available to the governments and policy makers in order to control inflation. Monetary policy and fiscal policy can influence aggregate demand. When the aggregate demand curve or the aggregate supply curve shifts, there are fluctuations in the economys overall output of goods and services and its overall level of prices is also changed. Therefore, a change of these policies can lead to short-run fluctuations in output and prices. A government and policy makers can change interest rates to adjust to balance the supply and demand for money. Furthermore, targeting a certain level of the money supply can be also treated as monetary policy. Therefore, setting interest rates and money supply will be different between in the case of demand-pull inflation and in the case of cost-push inflation. For instance, deflationary monetary policy such as raising interest rates and reducing banking lending might be introduced when demand-pull inflation occurs. However, against cost-push inflation, an expansionary monetary policy such as lowering interest rates might be adopted instead of a restrictionary monetary policy. The rationale behind this is that firms costs can be decreased through an expansionary monetary policy. Consequently, monetary policy can be described either in terms of the money supply or in terms of the interest rate. If monetary policy aims to expand aggregate demand, increasing the money supply or lowering the interest rate is adopted. However, changes in monetary policy that aim to contract aggregate demand can be described either as reducing the money supply or as raising the interest rate. The government is able to affect inflation not only with monetary policy but also with fiscal policy. Mankiw and Taylor (2006: p.721) tells us, Fiscal policy refers to the governments choices regarding the overall level of government purchases or taxes. Through the change of the level of the taxes, a government can indirectly shift the aggregate demand curve by influencing the spending decisions of firms and households. However, contrary to this, the aggregate demand curve can be moved directly when a government changes its own purchases of goods and services. Therefore, fiscal policy might be different in accordance with various causes and different levels of economic activity. Against demand-pull inflation, a government is able to adopt deflationary fiscal policy involving increasing taxation and/or reducing government expenditure. Fiscal policy will indirectly reduce aggregate demand. For example, consumers might lower their spending and firms might reduce investment if a government raises income and corporation tax. By contrast, government expenditure can directly influence aggregate demand. Therefore, deflationary fiscal policy will have a downward multiplier effect and might be able to remove an inflationary gap. The graph below shows that reduced government spending (from G to G1) removes the inflationary gap of AB. (adopted from Grant: p.573) Contrary to the case of demand-pull inflation, different fiscal policy will be also employed to combat cost-push inflation. According to Grant (2000), reducing corporation tax, decreasing indirect tax and cutting income tax are a fiscal approach to cope with cost-push inflation. Through those policies, a government can reduce firms costs or lower wage claims and then will influence aggregate demand. Moreover, monetary inflation will be expected, a government can adopt lowering expenditure by more than tax revenue as its fiscal policy. The discussion of fiscal policy has stressed how changes in government expenditure and changes in taxes influence the quality of goods and services demanded. Fiscal policy works primarily through aggregate demand in the short-run. However, in the long-run, it is also able to affect the quantity of goods and services supplied. Apart from monetary policy and fiscal policy, incomes policies and price controls can also influence changes in inflation. The incomes policy introduced to reduce inflation. Grant (2000) states it is to connect the growth of incomes to the growth of productivity in order to prevent the excessive rises in factor incomes. The incomes policy largely concentrates on wages even though there are many different forms of income such as wages, interest and profits. The rationale behind this is that wages form about two thirds of total costs. Governments are therefore able to control inflation by setting a percentage limit or a flat rate limit. Setting a percentage limit of wages will be useful to maintain wage differentials. Therefore, people in the high-income brackets might be beneficial as a result of a percentage limit. However, the lower brackets of income might be favourable to a flat rate limit because it reduces differentials. Consequently, the incomes policy will be helpful to maintain a wage and price still in the short-run. However, if exceptions are allowed too much or trade unions are strongly opposing the policy, it will be difficult to manage the pace of inflation. Price controls is also employed to restrict price increases. However, contrary to the incomes policy, price controls deals with the symptom of inflation rather than causes. For example, governments limit prices of products to control inflation rate if there is high inflation. Therefore, when inflation will be expected or is already happened governments and policy makers are able to choose price controls to restrict price increases and restore its symptom directly. However, if price controls continues, there will be some problems e.g. distorting the allocation of resources. The reason is that price controls can lead to shortages and create a demand for s system of rationing. In conclusion, governments might try to restrict price increases and to limit pay settlements in order to reduce inflationary pressure. However, introducing the incomes policy and price controls has not only the effectiveness but also problems. Although they are separate policy, those policies can be used together. Furthermore, they might have an effect on the problem of cost-push inflation if they are employed together. Therefore, the incomes policy and price controls will be more effective when those policies are employed together. However, they might be inefficient in the long-run. The reason is that incomes policy and price controls can distort the market economy e.g. creating labour shortages. Bibliography Grant, S.J., 2000, STANLAKES INTRODUCTORY ECONOMICS, Essex, Longman Mankiw, N.G. and Taylor, M.P., 2006, Economics, London, Thomson Learning Marcouse, I., Wall, N., Lines, D. and Martin, B., 2003, Complete A-Z Economics Business Studies, London, Hodder Arnold Powell, R., 2005, AQA advanced Economics, Oxfordshire, Philip Allan Updates Sungsoo Noh

National Basketball Championship Essay examples -- Sports Basketball

The ball soaring towards the basket; flying all the way from half-court. Bang! The ball slams off the backboard and plunges onto the rim as 70,930 people fall into shock. Will the impossible happen? Unfortunately for the upstart Butler Bulldogs, Gordan Hayward's desperation heave at the buzzer of the 2010 NCAA National Championship game was 3 inches off the mark, allowing perennial power Duke to walk away with their fourht National Championship. However, Butler's magical run shows why the NCAA Tournament is such a great event and why it does its job as a fair way to decide the National Champion. Meanwhile, three months earlier, Boise State is stuck at home, wondering what could have been as they watch Alabama and Texas get the opportunity to play for the National Championship. Boise State was undefeated. The BCS system, which decides the two teams who get to play for the title in college football, is considered by many to be iniquitous and believe the sport should switch to a playoff format similarly to what is used in college basketball. The two championships are set up quite differently. The obvious difference is that the basketball format is a playoff, while in football only two teams get the chance to play. A committee of people come together and set up the basketball tournament by seeding the teams into four â€Å"brackets†, seeding the teams 1-17 in each bracket. The decision making process can be quite complicated. First of all, 30 teams automatically play their way into the tournament by winning their conference tournament. This means no matter how terrible a team played in the regular season, they still get the chance to play their way into the National Championship game. The only exception to this is the Ivy League. They do ... ... truth is the reason that the college football universe is being prevented from getting a playoff. Even though in many ways a playoff is a fairer, more efficient, and more entertaining way of deciding the National Champion, money and power end up smothering this idea. Until the people with the power decide to finally do the right thing, there will always be teams such as Boise State or TCU on the outside looking in, wondering what could have been. Works Cited Eisenburg, Jeff. â€Å"How college hoops would look if the BCS replaced the NCAA tourney.† rivals.yahoo.com. 11 November 2010. Web. 22 November 2010. Murphy, Austin. â€Å"BCS supporters don’t get it: current system isn’t better than playoff.† www.si.com. 12 November 2010. Web. 22 November 2010. Murphy, Austin and Dan Wetzel. â€Å"Does it Matter?† Sports Illustrated. 15 November 2010: 42-48. National Basketball Championship Essay examples -- Sports Basketball The ball soaring towards the basket; flying all the way from half-court. Bang! The ball slams off the backboard and plunges onto the rim as 70,930 people fall into shock. Will the impossible happen? Unfortunately for the upstart Butler Bulldogs, Gordan Hayward's desperation heave at the buzzer of the 2010 NCAA National Championship game was 3 inches off the mark, allowing perennial power Duke to walk away with their fourht National Championship. However, Butler's magical run shows why the NCAA Tournament is such a great event and why it does its job as a fair way to decide the National Champion. Meanwhile, three months earlier, Boise State is stuck at home, wondering what could have been as they watch Alabama and Texas get the opportunity to play for the National Championship. Boise State was undefeated. The BCS system, which decides the two teams who get to play for the title in college football, is considered by many to be iniquitous and believe the sport should switch to a playoff format similarly to what is used in college basketball. The two championships are set up quite differently. The obvious difference is that the basketball format is a playoff, while in football only two teams get the chance to play. A committee of people come together and set up the basketball tournament by seeding the teams into four â€Å"brackets†, seeding the teams 1-17 in each bracket. The decision making process can be quite complicated. First of all, 30 teams automatically play their way into the tournament by winning their conference tournament. This means no matter how terrible a team played in the regular season, they still get the chance to play their way into the National Championship game. The only exception to this is the Ivy League. They do ... ... truth is the reason that the college football universe is being prevented from getting a playoff. Even though in many ways a playoff is a fairer, more efficient, and more entertaining way of deciding the National Champion, money and power end up smothering this idea. Until the people with the power decide to finally do the right thing, there will always be teams such as Boise State or TCU on the outside looking in, wondering what could have been. Works Cited Eisenburg, Jeff. â€Å"How college hoops would look if the BCS replaced the NCAA tourney.† rivals.yahoo.com. 11 November 2010. Web. 22 November 2010. Murphy, Austin. â€Å"BCS supporters don’t get it: current system isn’t better than playoff.† www.si.com. 12 November 2010. Web. 22 November 2010. Murphy, Austin and Dan Wetzel. â€Å"Does it Matter?† Sports Illustrated. 15 November 2010: 42-48.